Tamaulipan thornscrub after fire: an analysis of the composition of species.

E Alanís-Rodríguez,M F Amarán-Ruiz,E A Lozano-Cavazos,J M Mata-Balderas,E A Rubio-Camacho,M A González-Tagle

doi:10.1590/1519-6984.221325

Abstract

Forest fires are a natural element in many terrestrial ecosystems, in Mexico one of the main causes of loss of vegetation coverage is related to them. Nevertheless, no research has been carried out in the Tamaulipan thornscrub communities regarding post-fire regenerative strategies of plant species, therefore, is important to generate knowledge about the ecological role of fire in them. The aim of this study is to characterize the arboreal and shrub vegetation of a Tamaulipan thornscrub community in the Northeast of Mexico after a fire. To determine the composition, diversity and structure of the floral community consisting of trees and shrubs, 6 square-shaped sampling sites of 1,600 m2 were established 3 years after the fire. Margalef (DMg), Shannon-Weiner (H') and Pretzsch (A) indices were calculated to determine the richness, diversity and vertical stratification of species, respectively.23 species, 21 genera and 14 families of vascular plants were registered. The most species were Fabaceae (6) and Rhamnaceae (3) and Cordia boissieri was the specie with greater ecological weight (IVI = 20.3%). The indexes of richness and true diversity (DMg = 3.16; D = 16.44) showed high values, which suggests that the post-fire area has a good regeneration and a high species diversity. With these results we can conclude that the fire is an important agent of change in successional stages of Tamaulipan thornscrub with high values of regeneration after a surface fire.

Highlights

The forest fires are a natural element in many terrestrial ecosystems and they directly influence on their structure, composition and ecological dynamics (Agee, 1993; Pyne et al, 1996; Iñiguez et al, 2008; Alanís-Rodríguez et al, 2012; Carrillo et al, 2012)
V. rigidula is the only species with the highest abundance in MET areas with different types of disturbances such as extensive cattle grazing and killing (Alanís Rodríguez et al, 2008)
The highest values reported for this parameter in the MET in different areas with livestock and agricultural history are frequently supported by the species V. farnesiana and V. rigidula (Alanís Rodríguez et al, 2008; Pequeño Ledezma et al, 2012; Jiménez Pérez et al, 2012), being the latter one occuring in the burned area and with high values of importance

Summary

Introduction

The forest fires are a natural element in many terrestrial ecosystems and they directly influence on their structure, composition and ecological dynamics (Agee, 1993; Pyne et al, 1996; Iñiguez et al, 2008; Alanís-Rodríguez et al, 2012; Carrillo et al, 2012). After a forest fire has been extinguished, open spaces are generated by the elimination of vegetation cover, which enhances the germination and regrowth of pre-existing individuals or present species in the soil seed bank (Pausas, 2004; Calvo et al, 2008; Sang et al, 2008; Vidal and Reif, 2011; Massi et al, 2017). While in xerophilous scrubs, such as Tamaulipan thornscrub, no research has been carried out to evaluate the post-fire regenerative strategies of the different plant species that compose it (Alanís Rodríguez et al, 2015)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion